BBC neutrality questioned after presenter found guilty of pro-Israeli bias

The impartiality of the BBC when reporting on Middle Eastern issues has once again been called into question by activists after an internal investigation found that one of its senior presenters breached the organization's editorial standards during an interview with Israel's defense minister.

An investigation into the pro-Israeli bias was carried out in response to complaints put forward by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), following presenter Sarah Montague's interview with Moshe Yaalon in March.

Western Media's Bias Makes People Seek Alternative Sources - NGO

The incident is the second time in the past 12 months that the BBC has been found guilty of not following impartiality standards in relation to Palestinian issues, after the organization's Editorial Complaints Unit (ECU) found that an article in July last year about Gaza's tunnel network had been misleading, as the author Eado Hecht had been referred to as an 'independent' defense analyst.

However, in the most recent case, which has not yet been published online, activists say that Montague was found guilty of not sufficiently challenging the statements made by Yaalon during an interview on the radio current affairs program Today.

@Sarah_Montague By way of reparation the #BBC & yourself must apologise on Today for disseminating disinformation & anti-#Palestine bias.
— 4tt3nt4t (@4tt3nt4t) May 19, 2015

http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150522/1022463010.html?utm_source=s...

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Comment by truth on May 23, 2015 at 6:58pm: Pro-Israel bias: BBC admits editorial breach

The BBC has reached a “provisional finding” to uphold complaints made by Palestinian activists that the broadcaster breached its editorial guidelines in a “soft” interview with the Israeli defense minister.

Complaints focused on BBC journalist Sarah Montague’s alleged failure to challenge
controversial claims made by Israeli Defense Minister Moshe
Ya’alon.

Journalist Amena Saleem, who works with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), wrote on Electronic Intifada that she received an
email last week from the BBC’s Editorial Complaints Unit (ECU)
indicating grievances lodged by the PSC would be upheld.

However, a BBC spokesperson said the finding was “provisional” and the outcome was yet to be finalized.

According to a PSC transcript of the interview, broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s flagship news program “Today” on March 19,
Ya’alon said that Palestinians enjoy political independence.

If the complaint is upheld, it is the second time in recent months the ECU has censured the state-run corporation for its
pro-Israel bias.

BBC News Online was found to have breached its editorial guidelines last July when it described the author of an article
about Gaza’s hidden tunnels as an “independent defense
analyst.”

The author, Dr Eado Hecht, is a lecturer in military doctrine at Bar Ilan University, an institution described by the ECU as being
“explicitly pro-Israeli.”

The complaints board also acknowledged the author had “published articles written from a clearly pro-Israeli
perspective.”